Abstract
This paper seeks to x-ray the role of diasporan Igbos in the economic development of the South East region of Nigeria. In the light of the dwindling economy of the country, especially in the areas of gross domestic product (GDP), per capita income, and basic infrastructural development, but indices in the South East have shown improvements in areas such as human capital development, level or standard of education in most of the states. It is difficult to situate the impetus and the drive for regional economic development in the government at the center, in which case such improvements could have been widespread across the country. But the effects of contributions from Igbo diasporans in the form of annual remittances from their places of abode, foreign financed community health care missions, educational scholarships, community-based self-help infrastructural developments, annual children school enrolment rate, and number of out of school children among others may have played key roles in the South East. Some of the questions that agitate the minds of scholars are thus; What are the motivating factors for the economic development efforts of diasporan Igbos? Has the activities of the Igbo diasporan community contributed to the economic development of the South East region of Nigeria? In what aspects of the South East economy has the diasporan Igbos played key roles? The study is anchored of the theory of citizenship. Documentary method of data collection will be employed which will rely on secondary data from books, journals, and official documents from government agencies. Also, content analysis will be relied upon in the study.